Tuesday, April 28, 2009

nasrin sodoudeh

I listened to 'The State We're In' on Sunday afternoon to learn about a remarkable woman, Nasrin Sodoudeh, an Iranian lawyer who works diligently for the rights of young Iranians wrongly accused and imprisoned in Iran. It seems as if hers is an uphill battle with roadblocks at every turn. She struggles to obtain justice or at least the releasing of her clients through the payment of blood money. One such client is a 31 year old woman who maintains she was wrongly accused at the age of 13 by her employer's family of killing their 8-yr old son and dumping his body in the home basaement. She was witness to the murder which she says was committed by the boy's father. (It should be noted that at the time of the murder, this woman was a small and frail 13 year old girl who would have had extreme difficulty dragging a dead body anywhere.) This woman, who has been in prison for 18 years, now sits on death row with only Sodoudeh working to help her. Sodoudeh has a long list of young clients she works to defend, some who still are in their teen years. She tirelessly researches, writes, fundraises, councils, represents and heroicly aids those whose voices would otherwise be smothered out by a corrupt judicial system in a country where human rights are not recognized as they should be. (So-today as I began to greedily checklist the wants I have for our house: leather furniture, huge ceramic pots for flowers, a master bedroom chest set, etc, etc $$$- I have stopped myself and remembered this woman and those who need her and how they have had part of their lives robbed from them- and I have resolved to be a little less concerned with my wants and a little more contented with what I have- and hopefully like all of us should be- a little more concerned with how to help others...like Nasrin.)